In late November, Massachusetts officially passed its one-year anniversary with operational marijuana shops, which first popped up in Leicester and Northampton.
“That first night I stood in a line around the block interviewing people in the sleet and cold — it was quite a day,” said Dan Adams, cannabis reporter for the Boston Globe, in an interview Friday with Boston Public Radio.
One year in, Adams says revenues have been lower than expected. "The market’s just not as developed as I think a lot of people thought it would [be],” he said.
Part of the reason for sluggish revenue growth, Adams said, has been equally slow market development.
"If you talk to people who live on the west coast, where they really have competition between operators, they describe a totally different experience. Here, you order ahead, you stand in line … and they herd you through there like cattle. And out west, they open the jar… they let you sniff the different strains, they’ve got 40 or 50 or 60 or more strains," he said. "We’re lucky if they have three strains over in Brookline.”
Massachusetts now has about 30 legal marijuana dispensaries. The city of Los Angeles, in contrast, has around 80.
"Right now we’re in a weird reverse situation where it’s like the consumer feels lucky the stores just exist at all,” Adams said.
